Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a plastics material hose, comprising: a hose wall of plastics material, and an electrical conductor, wherein the electrical conductor is constructed as a braid having a plurality of fibres.
Description of Related Art
In the field of hose technology, numerous different hoses are known. As a result of the advantageous material properties and the low costs, plastics material is often used to produce hoses. Such hoses are referred to as plastics material hoses or all-plastics hoses.
A challenge with plastics material hoses is to safely compensate for or discharge electrical charge concentrations. The plastics material types which are typically used to produce hoses are electrically insulating. This results in electrical charge concentrations which are produced, for example, by means of friction of the conveyed material (for example, bulk material, dust or chips) on the inner face of the hose not being able to be discharged. Excessively high charges in plastics material hoses may be discharged in the form of sparks. It is thereby possible, for example, when conveying readily flammable or explosive fluids or gases, for high levels of danger to be produced. Another disadvantage of occurrences of electrical charging is that conveyed material could adhere to the inner face of the hose, whereby the flow resistance increases and an obstruction of the hose could occur.
In the prior art, in order to solve this problem, it has already been proposed that plastics material hoses be provided with an electrical conductor, for example, a copper wire. During the production of the hose, the copper wire is placed onto the hose wall, for example, from the outer side and secured at that location. Alternatively, the copper wire may also be integrated in the hose wall by the copper wire being cast with plastics material during the production of the hose or surrounded in another manner.
As a result of the good electrical conductivity of copper, the described procedure serves to discharge charges from the hose; however, it also has disadvantages. One disadvantage is the low level of expandability of copper, which reduces the mechanical properties of the hose, in particular the flexibility. Copper further has a high density which increases the weight of the hose. The high costs of copper are also disadvantageous. In addition, the good thermal conductivity of copper during the production of the hose may lead to process disruptions.